Sails on RailsI've as yet to find a sail railtruck in the flesh so to speak, perhaps you know where one still lives ? In any event, if you're aware of other locations where they were used, please do let me know. (E-mail me) Mike Munro
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it was run down to the shore at Cliffe to dig worms and inspect the sea defences. Mrs M.Foord' 'The Cement Railways of Kent', B.D. Stoyel & R.W.Kidner, p.64, Oakwood Press, 1990. |
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Tramway at Port Stanley in the Falklands, probably taken 1910/20ish. Quality is poor, being a scan of a not-very-well-photocopied-photograph.' Info and picture provided by Mike Jackson - many thanks |
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(R&R - Suffolk Record Office) 'Rail Trolleys', The Narrow Gauge No.177, 2002, p.61 'From the very beginning, engineer's trolleys were included in the company's [Ransomes & Rapier] ramge of products. The earliest example was a four-wheeled gang trolley first advertised in 1869, which was available with the added sophistigation of a mast and sail. No doubt this was a useful asset on some remote and exposed section of line, but it is not recorded whether the return of the gangers depended on the prevailing wind ! These simple wooden platelayer's trolleys were available in gauges ranging from 2' 6" to 5' 6" and in 1885 were priced from £6 to £12 (or £4 to £8 5s 0d for the ironwork only), dependent on guage. In the same year, a standard guage sail trolley mounted on springs was available for £25.' |
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(Royal Signals Museum) 'Sail and Steam to Gilkicker Point', The Narrow Gauge No.133, 1991, p.6 |
https://www.frheritage.org.uk/index.php/activities/completed-activities |
['The Swansea and Mumbles Railway', Charles E.Lee, The Oakwood Press. p.6 : 'An attempt to use wind power was reported in The Cambrian of 18 April 1807, as follows: An experiment of a novel kind was made on the Oystermouth Tramroad yesterday, to ascertain the practicability of a carriage proceeding to the Mumbles without horse, by the aid of the wind alone. Some Jolly Sons of Neptune rigged a wagon with a long-sail, and the wind blowing strong and as fair as could be wished, set out from our quay, and after clearing the houses dropped anchor at the end of the tramroad in less than three quarters of an hour, having come a distance of about 4 1/2 miles.'] |
['Pier Railways', Sydney A.Leleux, The Narrow Gauge No.230, Autumn 2014. p.4 : 'A wooden pier 3,633 feet long was opened in 1832. 'Remarkably, a sail-powered carriage operated on its baggage line from June 1833. This pier closed and was dismantled in the 1860s.'] |
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